Bedroom tax plans “will punish the poor” 6/2/12
People who have a spare bedroom will have their housing benefit slashed by 14% under UK Government’s Welfare Reform plans.
Where they are under occupying by two or more bedrooms the deduction is 25%
The Westminster Bill will reduce the amount of housing benefit support that can be
given to tenants in the social rented sector by introducing new size criteria for
working-
The new criteria for under occupation could mean that ill or disabled people, who use a spare bedroom for medical equipment, may all be affected.
Scottish Housing Minister Keith Brown said: “The UK Government’s proposals amount to a bedroom tax that will remove £54.4 million annually from the Scottish economy piling untold misery on the lowest income families.”
Graeme Brown, Director of Shelter Scotland, said: “As a charity that works to help people avoid homelessness, we are extremely concerned that these penalties for under occupation could force vulnerable people into a spiral of debt and out of the family home.
“At a time when Scotland doesn’t have enough one bedroom homes to re-
“Punishing tenants at the same time the Government is cutting the capital budget that could help build the homes they need is simply wrong.”
David Ogilvie, Policy & Strategy Manager with the Scottish Federation of Housing
Associations said: “These proposals are short-
“That’s why we have written to all Scottish MPs reminding them of the devastating impact that this new measure will have upon 70,000 of Scotland’s poorest households, many of whom are disabled or otherwise vulnerable.
“If they struggle to find alternative accommodation they could be left facing homelessness.”